Corporate jargon killing clarity
Stan Wise sometimes feels like a foreigner at work. The state Public Service Commission chairman said it happens when those around him start speaking a strange dialect, one that's peppered with words such as "interface,'' "synergy,'' "continuum'' and "connectivity.''

Fight for freedom seen in early 1990's
Long battles for freedom were won in the first years of the 1990s.
Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison after spending 27 years there as a political prisoner.

Salt Lake City
SALT LAKE CITY -- At the right angle, the granite spires of the Mormon Temple frame Utah's Capitol, a dual salute to Salt Lake City's secular and settler heritage.

In the know
See Augustan Ashley Reynolds, an eighth-grader at Langford Middle School, on The Making of a SuperModel, at 8 p.m. Sunday on channel E! In June, Ashley won the national Elite Model Look of the Year competition held in New York City. Sunday night's show focuses on the 15 models who competed for the title. As the winner, Ashley went on to the international competition in Paris, where she placed among the top 15 Elite models and won a $50,000 contract.

Antelope Island has long, rich settler history
SALT LAKE CITY -- The sun sets over Antelope Island, leaking light like a gentle mist through the canyons surrounding the Great Salt Lake. Antelope and buffalo roam this 28,463-acre island, while migrating birds pass over the great western flyway between northern Canada and South America.

All dressed up for the millennium
The party of the millennium calls for something special. After all, an event like this only comes around once every 1,000 years. But you don't have to go broke putting together the ultimate Year 2000 ensemble -- unless you want to.

Lawmaker wants state road-renaming policy
While Columbia County officials grapple with a proposed policy for renaming roads after people, a Georgia legislator is fighting a similar battle in the state Senate.

Education undergoes 3 rankings
The state Department of Education will release its annual report card next month. It will be followed by another state-funded report card, expected to be released in January.

Fleas test water's health
WASHINGTON, Ga. -- The way Mayor Frank Thomas Jr. sees it, a six-year fight with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency boils down to the sex life of water fleas.

State risks losing millions for child support
WASHINGTON -- South Carolina could lose $17.5 million in federal money for its child support program for failing to put a new computerized collection system in place, federal officials say.

Fall Steeple chase draws record crowd
AIKEN -- Love of horses and horse racing brought out the Fall Steeplechase's biggest crowd in its eight-year history on an autumn day that felt more like spring.

Authorities revisit slayings
AIKEN -- A serial killer on the loose near Shaw's Creek? Not so fast, says Aiken County sheriff's Capt. Bryan Oliver. There is no proof that three bodies found near the creek along South Carolina Highway 191 between 1987 and 1993 got there through the work of one person, Capt. Oliver said.

Critics say Barnes seeks power
ATLANTA -- Gov. Roy Barnes is at it again -- pushing to create a new state agency answerable only to him to handle a pressing issue.

Man escapes from Vietnam
Duong Le ran without looking back when Vietnamese communists released him from a prison camp in 1979. ``I don't want to turn around and look at them. It might be they made a mistake,'' the Grovetown man said.

Mayor sets up Web site on jury
The special grand jury will be just a click away from Richmond County residents who have information about suspected governmental wrongdoing. But some Augusta commissioners would like to send the mayor their own message.

Police, FBI still searching for children
On Nov. 22, 1985, 4-year-old Jeremy Grice was reported missing by his mother. Fourteen years later, investigators are still searching for an answer to not only his whereabouts but also those of two other missing area children.

Blasts message of firearms critics
In the wake of school massacres and other violent death, we see the notion growing that if all firearms were confiscated we would immediately enter a period of serene life with no more than a hiccup to disturb the passing scene.
Ester Young Mewihsen, Augusta

Questions welfare,minimum wage
We were discussing the minimum wage the other day and began to have some questions we could not answer. When was the minimum wage first started?
Eugene England, Aiken

Kent: Young stands for reform; lt. gov. burned
With a first-ever special grand jury named to continue two regular grand jury probes of municipal government, and with Augusta's 11-month-old ``reform'' mayor labeling waste, abuse of public offices and good ol' boy hiring a ``cesspool,'' tempers are flaring among some embarrassed and nervous commissioners.

Vote Tuesday!
In the runoff election for Augusta Commission District 2 between incumbent Freddie Handy and challenger Rev. Marion F. Williams, it's important for registered voters to realize that even if they didn't vote Nov. 2, they are still eligible to vote Tuesday.

Chides Wilhelmi
Can Augusta live with its very own Hillary Clinton?
James Grogman, Augusta

Urges end to selling of baby body parts
Who would have believed a few short years ago that our beloved nation would today be involved in the selling of baby body parts, with the once honored medical profession right in the middle?
Jane H. Dennis, Augusta

Likes 'positive achievements' news
The publishing of positive articles, such as the nominations for Richmond County Teacher of the Year, is well appreciated. In a time when the media is obsessed with violence and disaster, it is comforting to see articles of good.
Eric Eldridge, Augusta

Praises mayor forsolving problems
As often as Mayor Bob Young gets hammered on these pages, I thought the record ought to show he's been most responsive to at least one citizen's concerns.
Steve Kohn, Hephzibah

Claims Confederate flag honors vets
In a response to Ernest Leysath's letter regarding the negative comments he made about our Confederate flag -- and what a day his letter came out on, a few days after Veterans Day.
Roger P. Nelms, Aiken

Costly rail project
If we know anything about the large majority of Americans' transportation preferences, it's that they'll take four-wheelers over mass transit every time.

Defends work of Canal Authority
Re Frank Albert's derogatory comments on the Augusta Canal and where he would like to put stray cats and dogs (guest column, Nov. 13):
Jim Stringer, Augusta

Urges congressman to switch parties
As one of Rep. Charlie Norwood's, R-Ga., most ardent critics, I do not hesitate to criticize him when warranted. When hewas wrong, I criticized him. However, to be fair when he has done the right thing, I must give him credit.
Chuck Pardue, Augusta

Bemoans 'PC invasion' of NASCAR
I just recently watched the NASCAR Pennzoil 400 Winston Cup Race from Homestead, Fla., broadcast on the local NBC affiliate (Channel 26). Much to my amazement, Brian Williams opens up the program with a 10-minute dissertation of the Winston Cup points race. Where is Buddy Baker and Ned Jarrett? With the recently announced contract with NBC, NASCAR may have taken an irreversible step toward the world of ``Political Correctness.''
Steve Grinstead, Martinez

Mixed big spending bag
The compromise $390 billion year-end spending bill -- to fund seven Cabinet agencies including education, health and labor -- worked out by Republican leaders and the White House is the kind of mixed bag one would expect from divided government.

Hits vote for partial birth abortion
Five or six years ago I read a description of an abortion procedure known as ``dilation and extraction.'' As described, the procedure involved partially delivering a baby, piercing the base of the child's skull, vacuuming out the child's brain and finally delivering a dead baby.
Kelly Dolin, Augusta

Re-introduce Ft. Discovery
Augusta's state lawmakers -- regardless of party -- have convinced their legislative colleagues and two Georgia governors in recent years to financially back the fine work of the National Science Center's Fort Discovery.

Benefits of Web sites' ratings are up for debate
Consumers, click here. No, not there, come on over here.
As one cyberspace expert put it, Web sites with shopping guides are dressing up, and some in the market are launching a promotional blitz to lure consumers to their home pages. A race to make sites more appealing to visitors and more rewarding for profit-making businesses has already begun.

HIV/AIDS treatment directory now online
PHILADELPHIA -- AIDS patients and their doctors can read the latest information on research, treatments and drug interaction warnings on the new online directory of the American Foundation for AIDS Research.